TWO international performances in the last fortnight stood out above all others. They were the win of Russian Camelot in the South Australian Derby at Morphetville and the easy success of Almond Eye in the Victoria Mile in Tokyo – both meritorious in their different ways.

The remarkable thing about the former was that he was running off level weights at an extended 12 furlongs against horses who were older than him judged by northern hemisphere standards, and yet he beat them comfortably.

In ordinary times, Russian Camelot might have been an enterprising raider of the Derby at Epsom, as a son of the 2012 winner Camelot, but Covid-19 looks to have done for that plan.

While the South Australian Derby is a Group 1, it is not traditionally a strong Group 1, and there have been past three-year-old winners who have not amounted to a huge amount subsequently. After some umming and aahing, I have Russian Camelot on 114, which is pretty impressive but about six short of a usual winner at Epsom.

Almond Eye has much less to prove. Indeed, her huge fan club might claim that she has nothing left to prove after a career that has included victories in the Japanese equivalent of the 1000 Guineas and the Oaks, in the Japan Cup, and in the Dubai Turf.

She got close to breaking the course record in winning by four lengths the other day, though it should be noted that her opposition was rather second-rate and that her time of 1m 30.6s for 1,600 metres came on lightning-fast ground and with a rolling start.

Nonetheless, she can be credited with a 118 rating here and could be rated about six higher on some of her form. She is a splendid mare, and let’s hope we see more of her on the international stage some time.